Kiwi Leadership Network USA

Chris Lewis is one of New Zealand's greatest tennis players and sportspersons. As a former professional tennis player, he reached the 1983 Wimbledon final against John McEnroe, which was one of New Zealand's greatest sporting moments. Also in 1983, he received the New Zealand Sportsman of Year Award. During his career, he won three singles titles, reached the final of ten Tour events, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 19 in April 1984. He also won 8 doubles titles during his 12 years on the professional tour. Lewis became only the third player from New Zealand to reach the finals of a Grand Slam singles event, and he is the last player from New Zealand to reach the finals of a Grand Slam. In 1982, he led the NZ Davis Cup team to the semifinals in which New Zealand lost a close tie against France. In 1975, Chris was ranked the number one junior in the world, winning Junior Wimbledon and finishing runner-up in the US Open Juniors. As a coach, he has coached some of the top players in the world, including Ivan Lendl (former world no. 1), Carl Uwe Steeb (former world no. 14), and New Zealand's Marina Erakovic (former world no. 39). Lewis is currently Co-founder and Co-Owner of the Brymer Lewis Tennis Academy in Irvine, CA, where, together with his two partners, he is responsible for the development of over 500 aspiring young players.

Olympian Rod Dixon winner of the 1983 New York City Marathon and bronze medal winner of the 1500 meters at the 1972 Olympic Games. Rod also competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and prior to Montreal (1995) Track and Field magazine ranked him first in the world for the 5000 meters event. He eventually turned to road-running and was one of the more successful athletes on the US road racing circuit in the early '80s, including wins at the Falmouth Road Race (1980), Bay to Breakers (1982 & 1983), the Lynchburg, Virginia 10 miler (1981 & 1983), and the Philadelphia Half-Marathon (1980, 1981). His gradual move to longer distances culminated in his 1983 marathon victory in New York City. He finished 10th in the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and in the 1985 Bay to Breakers when he was unable to compete due to an injury he guided a blind runner to the finish. Dixon's athletic triumphs include: winning the national 1500m titles of New Zealand, France, U.S.A, and Great Britan; running the fifth fastest 1500m of all time (3:33.89) in 1974 at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games. Over his career, Dixon beat all the greats - Steve Prefontaine, John Walker, Lasse Viren, Henry Rono, Ben Jipcho, Brendan Foster, Dick Quax, Emil Puttemans, and many other world-class runners. In addition to his running, for three years he was race director of Auckland's Round the Bays run, which boasts some 80,000 runners, and was appointed as the coach for the Fijian Olympic team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Rod is the founder of the Rod Dixon's KiDSMARATHON charity which helps educate KiDS about exercise and nutrition, empowering them to take their health into their own hands, and inspiring them with visits from running champions.

Leo Anthony Celi MD MS MPH has practiced medicine in three continents, giving him broad perspectives in healthcare delivery. As clinical research director and principal research scientist at the MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology (LCP), and as an attending physician at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), he brings together clinicians and data scientists to support research using data routinely collected in the process of care. Leo also founded and co-directs Sana, a cross-disciplinary organization based at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT, whose objective is to leverage information technology to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. He is one of the course directors for HST.936 – global health informatics to improve quality of care, and HST.953 – collaborative data science in medicine, both at MIT. He is an editor of the textbook for each course, both released under an open access license. Finally, Leo was an intensive care and infectious disease consultant at Dunedin Hospital and a senior lecturer at Otago University School of Medicine from 2002-2007. He been a mentor and help advised many young New Zealanders to study and research in the United States, including at Harvard and MIT and collaborates with New Zealand based researchers with his work with MIT and medical informatics.

Campbell Murray is a experienced venture capital investor with a demonstrated history of working in the biopharma industry and life sciences. He is managing Director of Norvartis Venture Funds (NVF) in Cambridge, MA, USA. Prior to joining NVF, he worked at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research as the Director of Special Projects. Campbell is originally from Auckland, New Zealand and a graduate of University of Auckland Medical School and previously worked at Auckland Hospital. He is a Kauffman Fellow and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPP (public policy) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Knox Fellow and Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Campbell serves as a director on the boards of Annexon, Expansion Therapeutics, Galera, and Lemonaid Health and is an observer on the board of Akouos.

Professor Richard Webby obtained his PhD from the University of Otago, Dunedin. He then moved to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, USA for a postdoctoral fellowship under the guidance of Professor Robert G. Webster, world-renowned influenza pioneer and also graduate of University Otago, who helped identified the avian strain of influenza known as H5N1, the causative agent of avian influenza or "bird flu"; that emerged in Hong Kong in 1997.

Dr. Webby is a Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and directs the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza and a US NIH-funded Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance. Richard’s research interests focus on understanding the factors that govern interspecies transmission of influenza viruses and developing counter measures. This work involves combining field studies in both animal and human populations with laboratory activities with a focus on emerging influenza threats. His important work on influenza has been profiled in Nature and he has been recognized by Scientific America and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Webby has been a mentor and supervisor to post doctoral students, including from New Zealand.

Helen Klisser During is an art advisor, curator, and photojournalist who has championed global art projects for over 25 years. As well as numerous international consultancies, Klisser During serves as an international ambassador at large for Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland University of Technology; and as the U.S. Development Manager for The Helen Clark Foundation. Klisser During is recognized by KEA as a World Class New Zealander.

She has curated hundreds of exhibitions which have been at the forefront of the contemporary art world. She organized notable exhibitions and supplemental programs to promote social justice including “A Night of Nurturing Nature” a discussion with Helen Clark and featured photographer Edward Burtynsky; “On the Wire Veiled Rebellion” a conversation with Helen Clark about Lynsey Addarios photos depicting Afghan women’s lives, “Hope in Haiti,” an exhibition of photographs taken by 50 children from the Carma Foundation Orphanage in Haiti; “Champions to End Malaria,” an exhibition for which she was awarded curatorial role at the United Nations; and “Malawi with Love," a collaborative exhibition with Save the Children. Klisser During is the artistic director and co-founder with Mary Himes of #UNLOAD: Arts Trigger a Conversation, a statewide initiative in Connecticut to promote conversation through arts and education, around the divisive issue of gun violence in America. Helen is an award-winning international photojournalist. She served as the still photographer for Gaylene Preston's 2016 film "My Year with Helen: The Helen Clark Documentary," and her photographs and photo essays have been published in a wide range of national and international publications.